(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing apparatus of a liquid crystal display, and a manufacturing method of a liquid crystal display using the same.
(b) Description of Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) includes upper and lower panels provided with field-generating electrodes and a liquid crystal (LC) layer interposed therebetween. The upper and the lower panels are combined with a sealant printed along the periphery thereof, enclosing the LC layer, and spaced apart with a gap and supported by a plurality of spacers.
The LCD applies voltages to the field-generating electrodes to generate an electric field in the LC layer that has dielectric anisotropy, and controls the magnitude of the voltages applied to the electrodes to control the strength of the electric field, thereby controlling the transmittance of light passing through the LC layer to display images.
The spacers are spacer beads with a spherical shape and formed in an irregular pattern, or column spacers or rigid spacers formed in a regular pattern.
The column spacers are formed corresponding to portions where the light does not pass through. For example, portions may include a channel of the thin film transistor (TFT), a gate line, and a storage electrode line.
However, the spacer beads that are distributed irregularly function as alien material and cause light leakage, thereby reducing a contrast ratio. A portion of spacer beads moving even slightly damages an alignment layer. Moreover, the column spacers increase process steps during manufacturing which increases manufacturing cost and have such small elasticity so that the extent and accuracy to which the spacers can be shaped, formed or spread during drop filling is reduced, thereby causing imperfect filling or smear faults.